Well said. I’m sad to say that college for me was fun but classes were dull, not exactly challenging, they didn’t make me think critically. The delay in maturity that you speak about makes me think of how kids don’t know how to ask questions because they don’t know how to question anything. I learned more in the last 18 months on this site than I did in 4years at b school. More important, places like this help me understand how to apply the knowledge as opposed to learning from a book with no application to real life.

I’m very grateful that I had an opportunity to go to college but today I find myself to be more grateful for people like BR and many of the commentors on this site.

You could check the Chronicle of Higher Education for details, but there have been a lot of articles documenting an increasing in expenditure for (1) nicer dorms; (2) nicer student unions; and (3) nicer recreational facilities or gyms. As part of the “student is the customer” model, colleges have been actively marketing the lifestyle aspect of college living. So yes, a substantial amount of money has been spent on non-academic aspects of university life. Apparently, according to marketing surveys, this is what students and their parents want???

The bottom line is that colleges and universities have become an extension of high school… a place to babysit kids for another 4-5 years before releasing them into the real world. We seem determined to delay maturation as long as possible. Sending millions of kids to college who have no ability or interest to college is part of that grand plan. As a nation, we would be MUCH better off with a more diverse array of educational opportunities: (1) vocational training of all types and degrees of rigor to fill computer science to auto mechanic positions; (2) on-line training for continual skill upgrading in the existing workforce; (3) college reserved for those who are truly academically inclined. There is a place for colleges and universities, but as a college professor I agree with the earlier commentators that this is NOT the place for everyone.

No problem. A couple other things to consider:

1. Remember that many colleges will accept stock “gifts” to pay tuition and as a result you would avoid paying capital gains on that stock, this would end up giving you the same tax benefit of the 529, you just have to be careful as not all schools will do this. In the end, you would most likely pay less in fees on stock you manage yourself as opposed to a 529 and the mutual fund and administrative costs.

2. I’m not sure if you have any other children but I’d be careful about oversaving into a 529. Your daughter is still very young and might not go to school or might get a scholarship, she may do a 2 year program, she may join the military or go right to work after high school etc. if the money in a 529 is not used for education you pay a 10% penalty to get funds back out. You can always name someone else the beneficiary but why take the risk if you could use stock, gift it, and if you don’t use it for college there is no penalty to use it for yourself.

3. In the same way you could also look at some muni’s right now as possible decent buys which would also provide you with much tax relief and no risk of having to use the money for college. This strategy might be better if cap gains do indeed jump to 30 something percent. Just watch if you are going to use muni funds as some will be subject to AMT.

4. I don’t know what state you live in but many states now offer a tax credit for contributions to 529 plans so that is also something to consider if using the other strategies I mention above. While this is a nice benefit it might not outweigh the other risks of having funds in the 529.

529 plans are o.k. if used properly but if you really know the rules often times it makes sense to use something different. To me they are best suited for grandparents trying to gift away the estate that have several grandchildren, or for wealthy families with no shot at aid with a short term need for the funds or in other words a relative certainty that they will be used for school and thus not subject to a penalty.

there are no capital losses on a 529 that you can claim on taxes, that said, most 529′s allow you to roll-over your funds to a different 529 plan. Many will allow you to do this for free, just make sure if you own funds you don’t have Class B share funds b/c you will get hit with a fee to sell if you bought less than 3-7 years ago. I guess if the funds really suck you should sell them anyway even if you have to pay a fee. I don’t want to say any specific companies on here b/c this doesn’t seem like the place to do it but there are some big firms that offer very low cost plans that allow you to control the investments and have lots of investment options. They aren’t all bad you just need to find the right one.

Hope this helps.

I graduated from a large public university approx 10 years ago and anytime I’m on the campus today, I’m amazed at the facilities (gyms etc) that are available today vs. when I was there.

Seems to me that the schools are spending a lot of money on things that are not part of their core mission: to provide a high-quality education. If it’s the case that luxurious amenities are required in order to attract students to enroll (which is BS in the case of my alma mater as they have gotten more applicants than they can handle for many decades) then the (potential) students and their parents clearly need to reconsider their priorities.

You need college for most white collar jobs. My company will not even hire admin asst if they don’t have college. The college system is broken and not affordable to any but the well off and poor. Unsubsidized prices would have to fall because few could afford it.

nice point. in that one example you’ve well-explained the total Antithesis of the Education-Industrial Complex that has been crafted, here, in the North American Union.

As for should the go-vermin should even be in the college financial support business, how come India has been able to built the world-class Indian Institute of Technology where students pay a maximum of 700 USD/year covering all expenses? Oh! And low-income students don’t pay a cent.

How do they do that?
1) Their acceptance rate is <2%. The best only please, and don’t call us, we’ll call you.
2) The comittees accepting students are completely anonymous.
3) Deans are academics only, with track records to prove it.
4) You want to make a million dollars donation? Nice of you and much appreciated! Call the Ministry of Education and they’ll talk, since we can’t accept this money directly. (So your money can’t buy a spot foryour son who, BTW, does not have awesome grades, but I digress.
5) Central governement subsidize the whole system.

Result? A sizeable number of IIT students consider institutions like MIT or Carnegie-Mellon, or Urbana-Champain a second choice.

That is how you create leaders in a field. The best and the brightest only, REGARDLESS of socio-economic status, heaavy support from the rest of society is bound to give back a lot. how do you think India became a tech powerhouse in its own right? With football teams, MBAs and donations from the zillionaires?

Complacence sure is costly.